Sister Dearest
by JustAGirlWithALoveForFiction
Summary: Everyone thinks Sophia is dead-they can't help it. But when they find her with a new group of mysterious women who count her as their own she must decide where her loyalties lie. Will she choose her old group and the mother who couldn't defend her from her own father or will she stay loyal to her new-found "sisters?" Rated just in case of language and violence
1. Chapter 1

It was hot. The sun beat down mercilessly on the heads of the men as they made their way through the dense forest. They had been searching for hours to no avail and despite their best efforts, their hopes of finding Sophia were beginning to fade.

They came to a halt at a signal from Rick. The former cop looked exhausted from his many responsibilities as leader and the guilt he felt for the loss of the young girl was just adding to the strain.

The others looked to him, silently asking what their next move would be. It was a moment before Glenn spoke.

The young Asian man looked nervous as he asked the question they were all thinking.

"So, should we go back?" His eyes flickered to the other two before settling on Rick.

T-Dog looked to be in silent conflict with himself. On one hand, he wanted to find to find the girl as much as everyone else. Watching the look in her poor mothers eyes everyday as the chances of her daughters well-being dwindled was hell for all of them. However, searching so long in the blistering heat was making them tired and sloppy. They'd already had a close call with a walker who'd got too close for comfort that morning. It would have taken Glenn's arm off while he was looking in the opposite direction but a well placed arrow through the skull from Daryl's crossbow had saved him from a gruesome death.

Daryl. Unlike T-Dog, he showed no emotion and it was almost impossible to tell what he was thinking. He wasn't looking at any of them, choosing instead to comb the surrounding trees with his eyes, looking out for potential threats. He was obviously uncomfortable. Although, in the absence of his brother, the redneck had grown visibly less hostile towards the group, he still preferred to be by himself. He had not forgiven Rick and the others for abandoning his brother, and only kin, in Atlanta handcuffed to a roof. However, he had realized and accepted reluctantly that in his drugged-up state, Merle might have been a danger to the group it still didn't stop the feeling of resentment he felt when he thought of his brother, trapped like a dog in a trap in a city full of the dead.

"Yes" They all looked to Rick as he spoke. Though he obviously hated the idea of abandoning the search once again and heading back to the farm to face Carols disappointed gaze, he had to put the others safety first and he knew that if they continued wandering the woods aimlessly, they would get killed.

Daryl knew this. He knew but that didn't mean he had to like it.

He couldn't explain even to himself, his need to find the child but the prospect of leaving her alone in the wilderness with the dead, again was making his stomach knot.

"Okay, well we should probably…" Rick stopped talking abruptly and they all saw why.

The movement in the trees had been so quick, none of them really had time to register what was happening until they saw the point of the gun held against Ricks head.

They all raised their weapons to point at the figure. Whoever they were was small. That was about the only detail they had about the appearance of the threat as a thick cloak covered their body, a hood hiding their face.

"Don't move" A feminine voice. "Put your weapons down"

They stayed frozen in place and she pushed the gun harder against Ricks skull. Reaching her spare hand to Ricks side, she took the gun from its holster and pointed it at Glenn, as if to show she didn't appreciate their hesitation.

"Put your weapons down, NOW" she ordered.

Rick nodded to them, fear clear in his face and they slowly lowered their weapons, a crossbow, an axe and a hunting knife, to their sides.

"Alright, now we're gonna go for a walk. You three," she barked at Daryl, T-Dog and Glenn. "You go in front and if you try anything" She drove the gun into Ricks head again "I wont hesitate." There was no question to what she was implying and though Daryl hated taking orders from anyone, least of all a women, despite his feelings towards Rick, he didn't want the man dead.

So they walked. And they walked.

Though he hid it well, it was obvious Rick was worried. If this girl had a big group, they were as good as dead. It was everyone for themselves in this world.

Finally, they came to a clearing in the trees.

There were a few tents scattered around and a truck. The group didn't appear to be big but they couldn't afford to misjudge that.

As they approached a fire, placed in the centre of the small camp, they noticed other survivors. They too wore thick hoods, even in the sweltering heat but they looked up as the woman ordered them forward.

They stood swiftly. Each held a weapon of some description, a bow, a knife and a sword included.

Finally, one spoke. Again, it was a woman.

"What is this?" The voice sounded surprised but defensive of the unknown potential threats.

"Trespassers" the women behind them stated.

She circled around them to rejoin her group but she still held her gun pointed at them to show them it would be useless to try running.

"What do you want?" another woman asked.

Rick stepped forward and they stiffened defensively.

Realising he might have made a mistake, he raised his hands in surrender and the others followed his example.

"We're looking for a little girl. She got separated from our group on the highway. Please, we just want to bring her back to her mother."

The group glanced at each other before one of them stepped forward. Before she could speak, however, another voice rang out.

"Rick?"

They whirled around to see another figure stepping through the trees. She was the first one they had met who didn't wear a cloak. She was smaller than the others, barely a child and they all stared in disbelief at the girl who, if they admitted it to themselves they all believed to be dead.

Once again, Rick was the first to speak, just one word, in a choked voice. The women tensed but they were ignored as he uttered the name they had all said so many times over the past few weeks.

"Sophia?"

**_Okay. Hi. So. I've decided to scrap my other story "Burning" as I just didn't like it. Sorry to anyone who reviewed, favorited or followed the story. Believe me, it was appreciated. However, hopefully you'll enjoy this story. Sophia doesn't die (obviously) and the timing is a little different but I'm going to try to stick as close to the storyline as I can._**

**_This time, I'm going to wait until I get a little feedback before updating again. Not to force people to review but just to see how the idea is taken. So, yeah. Please leave me a quick review. It means a lot. Thanks!_**

**_JAGWALFF_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**So sorry. I accidentally uploaded chapter 2 of one of my other stories. I swear, I'm going stupid from lack of sleep, staying up reading fanfics! This is the proper chapter 2. Sorry again.**_

They all watched as Rick ran forward almost in slow motion and embraced the girl. She stiffened slightly before hugging him back.

The women watched the reunion wearily.

Sophia looked to them as soon as Rick let her go. She saw their defensive positions and frowned.

"Eve, put the gun down" she said as she walked toward the fire pit, dumping some logs onto an already huge pile.

He was surprised when the woman did as she asked. After all, she had held them at gunpoint barely a half an hour before.

"Sophia, what is this?" another woman asked as she stepped forward.

"Rick is from my old group. And this is Glenn, T-Dog and Daryl" she said gesturing.

"Is my mother okay?" she demanded, turning back to Rick.

"She's fine. Well, no, she's not fine, she's worried sick about you. We need to get you back to her now."

He put a hand on her shoulder and began to lead her away. However, before he could get farther than a few feet she yanked away from him.

"I'm sorry, Rick. I can't. These guys saved me, they took me in. I can't leave them."

She went to stand beside the women and stared at him determinedly."

"Sophia…" Ricks voice was shocked as he stepped towards her.

The first woman, with the gun, blocked him. Though she kept her gun in its holster, her hand visually twitched towards it.

"Eve, stop" This time it was a new figure who spoke in a calm, level voice. She was barely noticeable as she surveyed the scene.

The woman stopped but it seemed to take a lot of effort.

"Please, sit" The woman who had spoken gestured to the fire pit.

Though the others still looked tense, they made no move to stop her as Sophia and the woman led them towards the fire.

Sophia sat with the women on one of the logs around the fire and Rick and the others sat on the other.

Finally, they pushed their hoods down. There were four of them but they looked nothing alike. They were silent as Sophia introduced them.

"This is Eve" she pointed to the woman who had held them at gunpoint. She had short spiky, blood red hair and grey-blue eyes.

"Celeste" A tanned girl with freckles, curly brown hair and chocolate colored eyes nodded.

"Blaire" Another nod, this time from a woman with corn silk colored hair, reaching almost to her waist and the palest green eyes any of them had ever seen.

"And Alyssa" Finally the woman who had stopped Eve from blowing Ricks head off, a pale girl with deep black hair and clear blue eyes, smiled slightly.

"So you are from our Sophia's group, the ones from the highway?" she asked. When Rick nodded, her smile faded and she frowned.

"We went back to look for you. You were not there" her voice took on an accusing tone.

"We moved to a farm. It's safe there" Glenn told her.

The girl named Blaire snorted.

"There's no such thing as safe anymore" she said coldly and the others nodded in agreement. "The best you can do is keep moving."

"Yeah, we were just headed South" Celeste stated.

"Well..." Rick glanced at the others "Why don't you guys join us and our group?"

He felt the stares of the others and the saw the women's surprised looks.

"Rick, what the hell? These physco's held us at gunpoint and now you want us to all play happy families."

"Listen, Daryl, you wanna go back and tell her mother we found her and then left her again. I _won't _do that."

Sophia looked at him sadly but before she could say anything, Alyssa spoke.

"I don't know if that is a good idea" she said doubtfully. "With all due respect, this safe group you have already lost one of it's members" she placed a hand on Sophia's shoulder protectively. Sophia looked uncomfortable.

"Lyss, I told you that's not what happened. Rick saved me."

"And then he left you. A child. Alone in the woods." She stared at him coldly.

"There were exceptional circumstances." Rick said angrily.

"Alyssa, I don't want to leave you guys but I need to see my mom again, make sure she's alright. _Please._ At least for a couple of days." Sophia's eyes were pleading and they watched the woman's eyes soften slightly.

Glancing around at the others, they whispered a few words to each other before Alyssa looked at Rick and nodded once. Then she smiled at Sophia and took her hand.

"Okay, honey. We'll go… for you."

**_Okay, very quick update. Sorry for any mistakes. Please review and tell me if I should continue. Thanks to anyone who followed or reviewed already. I want the girls to seem quite cold. They are very protective of Sophia and kind of blame th Rick for "abandoning" Sophia. _**

**_JAGWALFF_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Sorry this has taken so long. I've been focusing on my other stories and this is just a combination of boredom and writers block. I was surprised, when I checked, how many people had followed this. Thanks a lot! Review if you want me to keep going with this story!_**

They made their way back to the farm in silence. Sophia asked a few more questions about her mother and that was about it for conversation.

As they walked the men began to notice the protective stance the newcomers took around Sophia. It was almost unnoticeable at first but after a while, they began to see how the women created a loose circle around the child. They would move out of their way to take down walkers silently and then quickly move back into formation.

Rick, Glenn, Daryl and T-Dog fell back and began talking in hushed voices.

"Are you _sure _this is a good idea?" Daryl whispered.

"Yeah, them girls are kinda' creepy" T-Dog said with a shudder.

"And dangerous. What if they try something at the farm?" Glenn asked.

Rick sighed.

"We'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it. Somehow, I don't think that'll happen. They seem very attached to Sophia. And they _did _save her. I hate to think what could have happened if they hadn't found her."

They let their minds wander over the possibilities and grimaced.

"Yeah, I guess" Glenn said reluctantly.

T-Dog opened his mouth but before he could speak a voice sounded closer than they expected.

The women had slowed down and Blaire had ventured away from her group to stand in front of Rick.

"How much farther?" she asked quietly.

"Uhh… not far" Her gaze was uncomfortable, giving them the impression that she had heard every word.

TWD

As they approached the farm, Sophia sped up. They broke the trees on the edge of Hershel's property just as dusk was falling.

Shane, Andrea and Dale rushed over, curious as to why they were so late.

"Rick, where the hell have you-" Shane started.

He froze as he caught sight of Sophia. He opened his mouth but couldn't speak.

Finally, Dale ran forward holding his arms out to the girl. There were tears in his eyes as he hugged her.

"Sophia, we've all missed you so much." He looked at Rick. "Where did you find her?"

Rick rubbed the back of his neck as Andrea stepped forward.

"Who are _they?_ She pointed into the trees where Eve, Celeste, Blaire and Alyssa stood half in shadow.

"We'll explain later. Right now, we need to find Carol" He put a hand on Sophia's shoulder and began pulling her towards the line of tents surrounding the camp fire.

Carol was washing laundry with a distant look on her face, one she had worn since Sophia's disappearance.

When Rick called her, she glanced up, her eyes focusing on him with difficulty, a wet shirt held tightly in her hands.

When she saw Sophia, she froze. Rick pushed Sophia forward gently as Carol got slowly to her feet. In an almost dream-like state she stumbled forward, dropping the shirt as she reached for the girl. It was only when she had her arms wrapped around her daughter that she seemed to realize that the girl was real.

She began to sob hysterically and clutched the girl as if her life depended on it.

Finally after a few minutes, she seemed to notice the rest of the group watching with smiles on their faces. She looked to Rick, Daryl, Glenn and T-Dog.

"You found my Sophia?" she whispered.

Rick shook his head, looking slightly ashamed.

"No, actually. Carol, everyone, this is Eve, Celeste, Alyssa and Blaire" he said gesturing to the group of women, standing at the edge of the group, watching the scene. "They've been looking after Sophia" he explained.

Everyone stared at them curiously until finally Carol smiled. She walked forward holding her daughters hand. Everyone watched as she stood in front of them.

"Thank you" she whispered "For my daughter, thank you"

Alyssa hesitated for a moment before nodding silently, an unfathomable look on her face.

TWD

For the rest of the day, the group barely heard any of the women say more than two words.

Rick informed everyone that they would be staying on the farm which made everyone slightly uneasy. Though they appreciated them taking care of Sophia and were all glad she was back, the girls were, as T-Dog said, creepy.

However, the women practically ignored everyone in the camp for the remainder of the day. They set up their tents in a cluster as far away from the group as was possible without leaving the farm. They made their own separate fire near the tents.

The Atlanta group watched from a distance. They were all gathered around their own fire, watching.

"Do you think they're dangerous?" Andrea finally broke the silence.

"They can't be that bad. They saved Sophia and she wouldn't leave without them" Rick said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself.

As they spoke, Sophia and Carol came out of the RV and walked towards the group.

"What are you guys talking about?" Carol asked, unable to hide her smile.

The group exchanged glances.

"Nothing" Rick lied before turning to the group at large.

"Why don't we all get back to what we were doing" he suggested.

There were nods all around, then, with final glances towards the newcomers, they dispersed.

TWD

That night the group were surprised when the women joined them at the fireside. They had given most of their canned food willingly and it was appreciated, but most of the Atlanta survivors had expected the women to stay in their own makeshift camp.

However, the women seemed to feel no need to make conversation. They sat as far from the rest of the survivors as possible which was easy as they were given a wide berth by the group.

However as soon as Sophia arrived at the fire pit with Carol she took the seat directly beside Celeste. The group eyed her wearily but after a seconds hesitation, Carol sat down beside her daughter.

Everyone ate in silence, each group eyeing each other.

"So…" Shane said as he put his empty plate on the ground. Rick shot him a warning look which he ignored. "Sophia, aren't you gonna tell us how you met your…friends." His face twisted when he said the word.

"I don't see how that's any concern of yours" Eve said coldly. Shane raised his hands in surrender, though there was a huge grin on his face.

"Eve, don't" Sophia said, glancing at the woman before focusing her eyes on Shane. "They saved my life. I was lost in the woods. There were too many walkers for me to outrun. One was about to grab me when they found me. They took me in, defended me. They're my family now, too."

She stood up.

"I'm tired. I wanna go to bed." Carol stood up quickly.

"Okay, sweetie. Well, I'm in the RV at the moment. It'll be a little cramped but you can share-" Sophia cut her off and her words surprised everyone.

"Actually mom, I'm gonna sleep in Lyssa's tent tonight."

"Wh-what?" Carol stuttered in shock. "No, no, you just got back, you've got to stay with me." Sophia shrugged, deaf to her mothers pleas.

"Sorry. But like you said, the RV's already crowded enough and Alyssa's got plenty of room." She started to follow the other girls towards their small camp at the edge of Hershel's property. As an afterthought, she turned her head and called over her shoulder. "But, hey, it's not like you're not used to sleeping without me."

That was a slap in the face. Carol had wanted Sophia back so badly it physically hurt and her daughter had basically just accused her of not caring.

The whole group watched uneasily. Sophia had been such a sweet, timid girl. These women seemed to have turned her cold. Carol looked like she was about to cry.

But Sophia didn't notice. She disappeared into the darkness, leaving her old group behnd in favour of her new one.

**_I want Sophia to be like Carl in season 3. She's cold and angry and sort of distrusts the group. Again, thanks for all the reviews._**

**_zombeepuncherdaisy-Thanks! Hope you enjoy this chapter._**

**_alchemy's homunculi-Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. _**

**_Future - Sorry this took so long! I know the girls seem harsh but IF I continue with this we'll see they have their reasons. In my mind they're like Daryl-angry and cold but inside they are good people- I mean, they did save Sophia._**

**_JAGWALFF_**


	4. Chapter 4

The next day there was silence from the small cluster of tents Sophia had disappeared into the night previously. Even after the whole Atlanta group were awake, none of the women appeared and by midday Carol had begun to panic.

While they were sure the women would not harm Sophia, none of them wanted to approach the other camp. Even as they tried to soothe Carol, they each exchanged nervous glances.

Eventually the woman wandered off by herself, throwing worried glances towards the tents every so often. She was skirting the edge of the forest and was just about to turn and head back to camp when she heard a growl from behind her. She whirled around just in time to see a walker lunge for her, knocking her off her feet.

She let out a strangled yell, trying to hold the thing at bay. She closed her eyes as her arms gave way.

The group, gathered around the fire, leapt to their feet as they heard the panicked screams

They rushed towards the sound to see Carol struggling desperately. Daryl rose his crossbow but before he could place a bolt through the things head a knife whirled through the air from the trees. The walker fell, now permanently dead, the knife embedded firmly in its head.

Lori hurried forward to help Carol to her feet as the rest of the group turned to see her saviour.

Sophia stood panting. She had obviously been running. She held several silver throwing knives clutched tightly in her hands. Behind her stood Eve, Celeste, Blaire and Alyssa.

"Sophia-" Rick started but she interrupted him.

"We need to hurry. There's a pack of walkers heading this way. We tried to head them off but there were too many."

Rick opened his mouth then closed it again and nodded. He didn't know what was going on with Sophia and he wasn't entirely happy about it but whatever his problems with her new attitude were, he didn't question her now.

He turned to the group and started giving commands but even as he was talking the walkers started tumbling onto the property towards the new potential meal.

At once Eve, Blaire, Celeste, Alyssa and Sophia made a beeline for the group of biters. Carol screamed after her daughter but the words died in her throat as Sophia once again yanked out the throwing knives.

The whole group watched in awe. The young, innocent, timid girl was gone. They had already guessed that much but as they watched they realized just how true it was. She whirled in quick circles, flinging the steel instruments, each one finding its mark in a walkers head. The look on her face was of grim determination and she showed none of the fear against thirty walkers as she had the two on the highway so many weeks ago.

They were also surprised how she worked with the others. It was a team effort. They weaved between each other, guarding each others back instantly. Daryl saw Celeste kill a walker about to grab Alyssa's arm while Rick noticed Sophia take down a stray stumbling towards Eve. Like in the forest on the journey to the farm they worked in formation, moving to kill then slotting quickly back into place, like some sort of familiar dance. While Sophia and Alyssa threw knives, Celeste wielded what looked like a fencing sword and Eve and Blaire spun machetes so fast they blurred.

Near the end of this startling performance, the group came to their senses. Daryl began unloading bolts into heads while the others used their handheld weapons to help take down the herd.

After a few minutes the stream of dead slowed and stopped. The group panted looking at each other.

Carol launched herself at Sophia immediately but the girl shrugged her off.

"Are you…alright?" she asked eventually. There was concern in her eyes but she was trying hard to hide it.

"Yes. Yes, honey, you saved me." Carol tried to hug her again but she stepped out of reach, glaring. Blaire put a hand on the girls shoulder and this time she didn't shake it off.

"Sophia" Carol whispered, pain evident in her voice. She stepped forward but Celeste moved into her path, blocking Sophia from view.

"Let me see my daughter" she screamed in anger. "I need to make sure she's okay."

Celeste stared at her with a mixture of disgust and disbelief.

"_Okay? Okay?_ Why are you so concerned all of a sudden?"

"I've always been concerned. I'm her _mother_. These last weeks have been hell for me."

Eve laughed without humour.

"Oh, yes, when she was running through the woods, getting chased by things that wanted to eat her, with nothing to defend herself with and no one to help her? I'm sure that was just _awful _for you" she sneered, sarcastically. Carol stared at her in shock. Rick stepped forward.

"Now, that's not fair. None of us could help that. We were overrun."

"Maybe. But why then was it _you_ that was out looking for her and not her concerned mother?"

"And let's not forget Ed." Sophia visibly stiffened at Alyssa's statement and Blaire gripped her shoulder.

"H-how…?" Carol stumbled over her words.

"Even if we could blame all of the other stuff on the stress of this world, that doesn't explain how you let your daughter be a punching bag to your _husband." _She said the word with disgust.

Carol had no answer for this. She stood, tears welling in her eyes.

"Sophia" she repeated, her hand outstretched. She glanced at her mother then back at her new group.

"I'm sorry" she said and for a second the thick armor she'd been wearing around the group fell. "Just…just leave me alone. Please."

And with that she turned and walked away. Again.

**_Okay, firstly, am I the only one that was having a WTF moment when Daryl and the others were out looking for Sophia while Carol sat at camp crying and doing laundry? Grrrrr, It just seemed WRONG to me. Please tell me I'm not the only one. And I just think that, alone and scared in the woods, Sophia would be getting pissed at her mum about this._**

**_Secondly, this is an AU where the group hasn't visited the CDC yet and Jacqui isn't dead. But I'm pretty sure I'm going to have the group visit the CDC like in the season one finale. Seeing the two groups, who are trying to avoid each other, in such close quarters should be interesting!_**

**_mrskaz453-your review made my day. I was worried people wouldn't get why Sophia was being so cold but your review reassured me. Yes, Sophia confided in them about most of her past. I wanted to really show the bond between the women and Sophia, especially in this chapter and I am trying to NOT have them being the bad guys- they really do care about Sophia like a sister (hence the title) I hope you continue to enjoy._**

**_ Anyway, my neck is killing me from typing so BYEEEEE,_**

**_JAGWALFF_**


End file.
